MANATEE COUNTY – April Culbreath, the District 3 Manatee County Commission Republican primary candidate, did not respond to multiple interview requests made by The Sun, but on July 30, many Manatee County voters received an “open letter” from Culbreath regarding her campaign.
The three-page letter briefly mentions the lengthy disciplinary record she accumulated during her former career as a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
Culbreath’s disciplinary record dates back to 2000, when her last name was Dugan, and includes multiple incidents that resulted in her being reprimanded and/or suspended without pay.
According to her 12-page Manatee County Sheriff’s Office professional standards resume and supporting MCSO administrative report documents, she was suspended without pay at various times for failing to respond and conduct an investigation as ordered by her supervisor, having sex while on duty, attending a wedding reception and being observed dancing in a suggestive manner while in uniform, using profane language while being disrespectful to a supervisor, failing to respond to a missing child call and allegedly punching a cosmetic surgery center employee while trying to obtain her personal medical records.
Her numerous written reprimands pertain to failing to secure and losing her service weapon near a picnic area in Bradenton Beach occupied by children and adults, driving a Sheriff’s Office vehicle to her out-of-county home without permission, failing to preserve evidence and misusing the Driver And Vehicle Information Database used by MCSO staff.
CAMPAIGN LETTER
The two copies of the letter provided to The Sun addressed each voter by the first name associated with their voter registration.
“My name is April Culbreath and as you are most certainly reading about my work as a deputy, I wanted to tell you my side of the story.
“First, I believe we have all sinned and fallen short in the eyes of our creator. I know I most certainly have. I have prayed for forgiveness for my shortcomings, and I know they only made me stronger.
“Second, I want to tell you about my experience working to keep you and your family safe as a Manatee County Sheriff’s Deputy. Unless you have a first responder in your family, or have a best friend that is one, you probably don’t know the stress it puts on the entire family. My husband and children are no exception to the worry that comes from placing that badge on my chest and gun on my hip, leaving them behind, knowing every day could be my last.
“Well, one day, back in January of 2021, while on duty, a criminal fleeing from police ran me down. I was simply trying to arrest her and she tried to take my life. Ignoring verbal commands, the criminal fled the scene, accelerated at full speed and threw me across the hood of another patrol car and underneath an oncoming vehicle. I was rushed to the emergency room, neck broken, and am writing this letter knowing I am lucky to be alive today. I thank God each day for this small miracle.
“My husband, Duane, is a member of a longtime Manatee County family. He’s a fourth generation and our children will be the fifth generation of Culbreaths living here. Our people settled near Perico Bay, moved to Cortez and established the Cortez fishing village in the 1920s. Our family wants to make this community better. We have generations of Culbreaths to prove it.
“Personally, I have dedicated my life to serving our community. I took the oath to protect and defend our way of life. This is not an oath I take lightly and know, as a deputy, that promise could one day take my life. Now I am seeking to become a Manatee County commissioner, for the exact same reasons I became a deputy. I want to defend our home.
“I’m also no stranger to campaigns, having led our local Republican party and having been the founder of the Manatee County Trump Train.
“I wasn’t surprised when my opponent, fresh from Washington D.C., started attacking me with information that’s decades old, trying to impugn my service as deputy sheriff and detective.
“I also want you to know you can call me anytime with questions you have and I will be happy to answer them directly.
“My family and I are grateful to live in a place where neighbors still take care of neighbors and we pull together when times are tough. That’s the Manatee County I love and am fighting for. I hope you will join me in that fight,” the letter says.
Culbreath’s letter did not include a phone number, nor did it directly address any of her numerous work-related suspensions.
MEDIA RELATIONS
On July 24, Culbreath addressed her media interactions, or lack thereof, in a comment she posted at former Bradenton City Council member Gene Gallo’s Facebook page in response to Gallo’s support for opponent Tal Siddique.
“I have certainly tried to defend myself from the liberal media, however they refuse to publish my words,” she wrote.
On June 6, The Sun emailed Culbreath’s campaign address seeking her input for a District 3 campaign story. She never responded. The Sun emailed her campaign address again on July 29 and left a voicemail at her campaign phone number, again, with no response. Two other local journalists, Dawn Kitterman and Marc Masferrer, experienced similar non-responses with Culbreath and noted so on Facebook.
